Sunday, November 14, 2010

11/14/2010
Noynoy’s so-called private-public partnership (PPP) program appears to be a mere rewording of the build-operate-transfer (BOT) schemes that held sway during the administration of former President Fidel Ramos. BOT projects were billed as a way out for the cash-strapped government to continue setting the infrastructure the nation needs since projects will be set up by the private sector that will run it for a predetermined period and then transfer its ownership to the government.
In theory, the concept was very logical and enticing. In practice, however, the many BOT projects that supposedly would not cost the government a cent, are now being paid for by the public through its ears. The BOT scheme was used for the setting up of several road and power projects from the time of Ramos.

The current astronomical road toll and most of the so-called universal charges in electricity bills that almost equal the cost of generation which should be the only major component of monthly power expenses of consumers, mainly came from such contracts.

Noynoy and his economic bright boys are now pushing the PPP that would not be any different from the BOT projects that are currently proving to be a scourge to the nation..... MORE

11/14/2010
A statesman, Noynoy can’t ever hope to be, given the way he conducted himself at an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) meeting where he continued to press on the way foreign governments have singled the Philippines in issuing terror threat warnings and travel advisories.

He also stressed that these advisories issued by the six countries he did not name, although everyone there at Apec must have known just which countries he meant, since he has been at it for days or end, had no basis and merely based on text messages.

What was even worse, is that Noynoy kept up with his spiel that these advisories of a credible terrorist activity have absolutely no basis — and this he kept on repeating despite the fact that the Department of Foreign Affairs, Manila, had already sought replies from these six governments through a note verbale, to which the countries had already replied, while standing firm on their government’s advisories.

The way to see Noynoy’s strange behavior at the Apec Summit is that he is trying so hard to prove to these leaders that he is a strong leader, and nothing like that image that the Asean leaders, not to mention world leaders, have of him, with the way he and his security aides bungled the rescue operations of the Hong Kong tourists last Aug. 23, which unfortunately showed his lack of leadership and preparedness for the presidency.
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11/14/2010
SANTA FE — Billy the Kid could yet get an official pardon — but the clock is ticking on a long-awaited decision on the infamous 19th-century Wild West outlaw.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has hinted since he was first elected in 2002 that he might posthumously pardon the controversial gunslinger, who died nearly 130 years ago.

But with only two months left in his second term — his successor was elected on Nov. 2, and takes office in January — Richardson has yet to schedule a pardon hearing despite a campaign by supporters who consider the Kid a hero.

“The governor still has yet to decide whether he’s even going to proceed with a review of the Billy the Kid issue,” said gubernatorial spokesman Eric Witt. “He still has not come to a decision which direction if any he wants to go on this thing.

Ted Kwong, an aide to Richardson’s successor Susana Martinez, said he does not recall the governor-elect ever making any statement about the Billy the Kid pardon debate..... MORE

11/14/2010
Sen. Tito Sotto wants to ferret out those who emerged as the “winners” in the 1996 subdivision deal entered into by Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) and the Capitol Hills Golf and Country Club (CHGCC).

“Malamang may kumita d’yan,” he told reporters.

Sotto should know his onions, because he is one of the leading figures of the 3rd district of Quezon City which is where the plush Ayala Heights Subdivision is located.

Explaining the deal, Sotto said Capitol (where he was once chairman of the board of directors) had coughed up some 220,000 sq. m. of prime land worth approximately P20,000 per back then or about P4.4 billion, while ALI provided the funds for the development at P4,000/sq. m. or about P880 million.

While Capitol’s contribution was five times bigger than that of ALI, it ended up with only 40 percent of the pie while the latter came away with the lion’s share.

“This is grossly disadvantageous to CHGCC and its members,” he said..... MORE

11/14/2010
AIN AL-HELWEH — Mussa al-Hussein may have a hard time recalling dates and places, but the 86-year-old Palestinian does not miss a beat when asked for his ID number when he was in the British army in Palestine in World War II.

“5472,” he fired off assuredly, sitting in his rundown home in the densely populated Ain al-Helweh refugee camp in the Lebanese coastal city of Sidon.

Hussein is among some 30 Palestinians in Lebanon who fought under the Union Jack during the second World War but who were forced to flee their land in 1948 after the creation of Israel.

The majority have since been living in squalid refugees camps with little hope of ever returning home.
On Sunday, when Remembrance Day is celebrated in Britain, Hussein will stand alongside his fellow veterans at an annual ceremony in their honour in Beirut organised by the British Embassy, which has been trying to secure the men some regular assistance in recognition of their service..... MORE

11/14/2010
Lately, it was reported that someone prominent and celebrated signified the marriage option sooner or later.

It is common knowledgez that the subject party concerned has lived one and alone for a good number of years. It is this intriguing announcement and interesting news that occasion this three-fold plain and simple essay on marriage. For a start, it is both good and true to say that everybody is an expert in marriage. On the other hand, it is also a fact that a big number of couples get married more out of instinct and custom — without the proper understanding of the rather signal nature and the inherent consequences of marriage. For this reason, as they find it easy to get married, easy too they decide to separate.

Here is the correct notion of marriage, irrespective of race, color and creed of people — except for one particular belief that one man is equals two, three or even four women: Marriage is basically an indivisible and insoluble union of a man and woman for their mutual welfare and the good of the children born of their union. Such is the nature and finality of marriage according to the law of nature — without any appeal to higher values. And such is the essence and finalities of marriage — irrespective if one or both of the married couple believe it or not. There are realities that do not change only because some individuals want them otherwise.
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11/14/2010
Ayoung man contemplating marriage asked his dad, “Dad, do you have an idea how much it costs to get married these days?” The dad replied bluntly, “Son, honestly, I don’t have an idea how much it costs to get married, because since I got married to your mother, I am still counting the costs!”

Oh yes, ever since we got married to the United States of America without the prospects of a future divorce, we have been counting the costs, often very costly.

Of course, we have to foot the bill of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) not necessarily with the green bucks of “In God We Trust,” but in terms of whatever this country could offer with outstretched arms to the Americans, including entrusting our sovereignty. We have been “footing the bill’ of every Americanism that has shaped every bit and piece, nook and corner of our politics, economics, sensibilities and culture, according to its patterns and paradigms being the land of paradise, an exemplary brother in freedom and democracy, then a dumping ground, a political subterfuge, a coalesced member of the willing, a military windshield against the giant panda roaming the Great Walls..... MORE

By Aytch S. de la Cruz and Gina Peralta-Elorde 11/14/2010
Canada said “well noted” while Japan defended the right to issue advisories to its citizens in response to President Aquino’s appeal to review if not remove travel alerts issued on the country.

Aquino, who is in Japan for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum Leaders’ Summit, met yesterday with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to discuss economic matters and the lingering concerns over the series of travel advisories received by the Philippines from developed nations.

Aquino complained the other day that Canada and five other western nations singled out the Philippines on alerts issued on their citizens about an imminent attack from terrorist groups.

Aquino said the alerts issued were not warranted and demanded that the governments withdraw the advisories..... MORE

11/14/2010
The Senate expects the House of Representatives to concur with President Aquino’s grant of amnesty to Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV despite the delay in the approval of the presidential order with Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile saying that the Aquino ally-dominated chamber appears to have no choice but to go with the pardon or risk putting Aquino in a position that he appears being rejected by the House.

The delayed action at the House of Representatives on Trillanes’ amnesty, I believe, will be resolved soon, Enrile said.

“I think we should respect the policy established by the President. If Congress does not concur, nothing will happen to the amnesty of Trillanes. But, what for? The government is negotiating with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the National Democratic Front (NDF), why should it deny the same treatment to those who served the country but had moments of weakness,” Enrile said.

“Will you punish them forever? We have to use an even playing field in enforcing the laws of the land,” he added.

Senate Majority Floor Leader Vicente Sotto III added the decision of the House committees on justice and national defense to review the supposedly “flawed” proclamation does not give a good reflection on the President..... MORE

11/14/2010
YANGON — Myanmar’s democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi walked free yesterday from the lakeside prison that has been her home for most of the past two decades, to the delight of huge crowds of waiting supporters.

Waving and smiling, the petite but indomitable Nobel Peace Prize winner appeared outside the crumbling mansion where she had been locked up by the military junta for 15 of the past 21 years.

Loud cheers and clapping erupted from the thousands of people who had gathered outside her house under the tropical sun for a glimpse of the 65-year-old dissident, known to her supporters simply as “The Lady.”
Someone threw her a flower which she put in her hair. Earlier people had surged foward toward her home as police removed barricades blocking the way.

Although she has been sidelined and silenced by the junta —occasionally released briefly only to be put back in confinement — for many in the impoverished nation she still embodies hope of a better future..... MORE

11/14/2010
President Aquino hailed his country’s sovereign credit upgrade by ratings agency Standard and Poor’s (S&P) as a sign that the nation was moving out of the economic “doldrums” although the rating remains below investment grade despite the S&P action.

“We’re very delighted because the efforts that we have been trying to do are already being recognized by an agency with international character,” he told reporters late Friday at a summit of Asia-Pacific economies in Yokohama, Japan. S&P said Friday it had raised the Philippines’ sovereign credit rating by a notch to “BB,” citing the country’s improving growth prospects and ability to resist global shocks.

“We would like it (the rating) to go even higher but that is already cause for us to be delighted with the results, we have gotten a level up when we have been in the doldrums for such a long time,” Aquino said.

S&P cited the Philippines’ underlying strength “of its external accounts” as lessening the threats posed by the nation’s high public and external debt, providing a buffer against adverse shifts in trade or investor sentiment.
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11/14/2010
Malacañang yesterday advised residents living near the restive Mount Bulusan in Sorsogon not to defy the evacuation order of their local government when the urgency comes at once given the reported continuous rumbling of the volcano.

Deputy presidential spokesman Abigal Valte told reporters through the state-run radio dzRB that the residents need to cooperate with authorities in times like this to avoid risking their own health and safety.

Valte, nonetheless, assured the public that the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC) is continuously monitoring the situation on the ground in cooperation with the local government units concerned.

“What I understand is that they (Bulusan residents) are ready to evacuate once the Phivolcs (Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology) gives the sign that a forced evacuation is necessary. But we also learned that some of the residents refuse to do so because they claim that they’ve been living around Mount Bulusan for a long time now and they said they understand the volcano’s temperament so this might serve as a difficulty (on the authorities part) when they get to that point that they really need to evacuate (the residents),” Valte stressed..... MORE

The Philippines would be in a virtual standstill today as its beloved son and ring idol, Manny Pacquiao, climbs the ring once more, looking to rewrite further his place in history with his bid for an unprecedented eighth weight division victory.

But a shadow of a tall, tattooed fighter with mean motivation is lurking on the 31-year-old pound-for-pound king who will exchange blows with Antonio Margarito of Mexico for the World Boxing Council’s vacant super welterweight title.

Boxing experts and fans, who have been exchanging views and hot comments on what attributes give advantage over the other, will finally have their day of reckoning today.

Set at the Cowboy Stadium in Arlington, Texas, the fight promises to be a real wingding, too, well worth any investment as both fighters are rough, tough and indestructible.... MORE

11/14/2010
COTABATO CITY — Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz made a surprise visit last Thursday to the volunteer nurse who was gang-raped in Maguindanao and is still confined at a hospital in Davao City.

She told Florence that she was happy the volunteer nurse was fast recovering and getting back her memory.
The relative said Florence has started receiving visitors, among them friends and relatives but the issue of gang-rape was never discussed with her.